Binder.



Patented Nov. 17,1908.

J. :R. BARRETT.-

I BINDER. APPLICATION FILED 0013.13, 1897.

' J. R. BARRETT.-

BINDER. APPLICATION FILED 001 .13, 1897.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

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J. R. BARRETT. BINDER.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.13 1897. 903,947.

Patented Nov. 17,1908.

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JOHN R. BARRETT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BINDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

Application filed October 13, 1897. Serial No. 655,053.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. BARRETT, a citizen of the United States,residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Binders, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings.

My invention relates to binders of the Emerson type, patented September12, 1871, and has for its object to provide certain improvements inbinders of this type.

In the drawingsFigure 1 shows a portion of a binder of the old style,provided 1 with my improved cord and tip; Figs. 2 and 3 illustratebinders having my improvements, several modifications being shown; Fig.4c is a sectional view of the old style cleat; Figs. 5, 6, and 7 aresimilar views showing several forms of my improved cleat; Fig. 8 is anend view of the binder; Fig. 9 is a partial plan view of a binder,showing my improvements in their most approved form; and Fig. 10 is asectional view showing one of the cleats.

As will be clearly understood from an inspection of Fig. 1, the oldstyle binder con sisted of backs 1516 hinged together, said backscarrying, respectively, longitudinal strips 17-18, between which thepapers (or other matter to be bound) were placed. The strip 17 wasprovided at each end with an eyelet 19, the strip 18 being provided withsimilar eyelets 20 opposite the eyelets 19, and with cleats 21 arrangedat one side of the eyelets 20. In the old style binder the papers orother articles were threaded upon cords 22, which were secured to thestrip 17 near its opposite ends, thence passing through the eyelets 19,thence through the papers which lie between the strips 17 and 18, thencethrough the eyelets 20, then being secured to the cleats 21 by belaying,as illustrated in Fig. 1. For the purpose of threading the papers uponthe cord, a needle was provided, the needle having an eye by which itwas threaded upon the cord.

While the construction above described has been very popular and hasgone into extensive use, the arrangement of the eyelets with referenceto the cleats has been unsatisfactory to some extent, owing to the factthat the strips 17-18 could not, with such arrangement, be bound down astightly upon the papers as was desirable. To avoid this objection is oneof the objects of my present invention, and this object I accomplish byarranging the eyelets corresponding to the eyelets 20 between theretaining arms of the cleats, as illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8,9 and 10.

In the form shown in Fig. 5, the strip 18 has secured to it a cleat 23,the central portion of which is countersunk, and is secured by an eyelet24: to the strip 18. The cleat 23 has retaining arms 2526 at oppositesides of the eyelet 24, and is further secured in place by rivets 27,which serve to prevent it from turning out of alinement with the strip18. By countersinking the cleat 23, as illustrated, a depression isprovided between the arms 2526, to receive the rim of the retainingeyelet, so that when the cord 22 is passed through the eyelet 2e andlooped around the arms 25 26 to secure it, the crossed portion of thecord at the center will not project materially beyond the arms 2526 andinterfere with the proper closure of the binder. The arms 2526 extend inopposite directions from the perforated center of the cleat and are bentto present concave faces to the surfaces of the binder-strip so that thespace between the surface to which the cleat is secured and the cleatitself is greater near the inner portions of the arms than near theouter portions thereof. The cleats 23 are so placed with reference tothe eyelets 19 in the strip 17 that the eyelets 2 1 of said. cleats willlie opposite the eyelets 19, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Bythisconstruction, when the papers are threaded upon the cord 22, after thecord is passed through the eyelet 24 the strips 17-18 may be drawntightly together and held without slipping while the cord is belayed;and as, in this construction, when the strips 17-18 are drawn together,pressure is applied directly to the cleat, said strips will be drawntogether more tightly than in prior constructions. Moreover, the cord isheld properly in place between the arms 25-26 and the opposite surfaceof the strip,the outer ends of the arms keeping it from slipping out,owing to their nearness to the strip.

While I prefer to make the cleat 23 in one piece, as illustrated in Fig.5, it may be made in two pieces, having detached arms 28-29, as shown inFig. 6, an eyelet 3O corresponding to the eyelet 24. being placedbetween the arms 28 -29, as illustrated. Furthermore, instead of usingarms of the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6, hooks 31-32, illustrated inFig. 2, may be used, an eyelet being secured between them. Thisconstruction is not herein specifically claimed, however, as it is thesubject of my application for patent, filed January 2, 1903, SerialNumber 137,533.

In Fig. 7 I have shown still further modifications, spring arms 33-34being provided, which are secured upon the strip 18 and are adapted topinch the cord between them. 35 indicates a spring arm adapted to gripthe cord upon a plate 36 secured upon the strip 18. The plate 36 servesto take the wear.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a binder having cleats of the forms shown inFigs. 5 and 6, and 7, but it should be understood that usually in anyone binder the cleats are alike.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a form of binder intended for a largenumber of documents; and to provide for holding the ends of the cordwhen the binder contains only a small amount of matter, auxiliary cleats37 are provided, which are secured to the strips 18 at convenient pointsto receive and retain the loose ends of the cord, as shown.

Further features of my present invention are illustrated in Figs. 9 and10, Fig. 9 illustrating the complete binder, while Fig. 10 illustratesmy most approved form of cleat. The cleat 42 shown in Fig. 10 is similarin general to that shown in Fig. 5, the principal difference being thatinstead of using a single eyelet 24, as shown in Fig. 5, I use aplurality of such eyelets arranged between the arms of the cleat. Theobject of this construction is to provide an eyelet to receive the cordon which the papers are strung, at a point opposite the perforation inthe last paper. In threading papers upon a cord in binders of this typeit is quite difficult for the operator to keep the perforations in thedifferent papers exactly in line, the consequence being that after anumber of papers have been threaded on the cord the perforations in thelast paper are not at the same distance from the top and bottom edges ofthe paper as those of the first paper; consequently, if the eyelets inthe strip 18 are opposite those in the strip 17, it becomes necessary todouble back the cord, and when it is drawn taut the lateral pressure onthe papers either tears them or moves them out of alinement. This isfurther aggravated by the fact that, as at least two cords are used andas it is practically impossible to keep the adjustment of the two cordsthe same, the papers are very apt to be wrinkled and torn. By providinga plurality of perforations or eyelets 24, however, the cord may bepassed through the eyelet nearest to it, so that the evil results abovementioned are avoided. While I have shown three perforations or eyelets24, I do not wish to limit myself to that number. Furthermore, I do notlimit myself to providing a plurality of perfora tions solely with theform of cleat shown in Fig. 10, as my invention includes the applicationof this feature to other forms of cleats and retaining devices.

In the old style of binder, as already suggested, it was customary touse two cords, one at each end of the binder; and in order to avoid theobjections incident to securing the cords to the binder by knots, as wasformerly the practice, and to provide for adjusting the cord as may benecessary, I have provided means whereby a single cord may be used. Asillustrated in Fig. 9, a cleat 45 is secured to the strip 17 at somesuitable point between the perforations 43, as shown 'in Fig. 9, thecord being secured to said cleat in the manner shown.

So far as I am aware, no one has heretofore provided a temporary binderof the class described with means between the ends of one of the bindingstrips for preventing the cord from slipping longitudinally thereof; andthis construction is therefore claimed broadly.

While I have described my improvements in detail, I wish it to beunderstood that my invention is not limited to such specific details ofconstruction, except in so far as they are particularly claimed, as manymodifications thereof may be made without departing from my invention.

I do not herein claim the pointed cord-tip illustrated in the drawingsand originally forming a part of this application, since theconstruction of such cord-tip forms the subject-matter of a divisionalapplication filed in the Patent Oflice on the 24th day of May, 1902,Serial Number 108,850.

That which I claim as my invention and desire to secure by LettersPatent is- 1. In a binder, the combination with covers, of abinding-cord secured to one of said 110 covers, a cleat secured to theother cover, said cleat having retaining arms,and a plurality of openperforations between said retaining arms, substantially as described.

2. The combination with covers, of a bind- 115 ing cord secured to oneof said covers, a retainingdevice having retaining arms secured to theother cover, and two or more open perforations between said retainingarms, substantially as described.

3. In a binder, the combination with strips 17 18, said strips 17 havingperforations 43, of a cord passing through said perforations,retaining-devices carried by the strip 18 op posite said perforations,and a cleat secured 125 to the strip 17 between the perforations 43,substantially as described.

4. In a binder, the combination with covers, of a binding-cord securedto one of said covers, a retaining-device secured to the 130 othercover, and a plurality of perforations ing a cleat adapted to engage thecord to in the latter cover, said perforations being prevent it fromslipping longitudinally of 10 arranged in close proximity to each othgrthe strip, substantially as described. and adjacent to saidretaining-devices, su stantially as described. JOHN BARRETT 5. In abinder, the combination of covers, Witnesses: and binder-strips, one ofsaid strips having JOHN L. J AGKSON, cord-retaining devices, the otherstrip hav- HOLMES A. TILDEN.

